According to Moran Alaluf of The National Interest, Turkey, under President Erdoğan, is using its ties with the West and NATO to pursue a neo-Ottoman agenda of regional dominance. While appearing to counter Iran, explains Alaluf, Ankara supports Islamist groups like Hamas, expands militarily, and aligns increasingly with anti-Western forces. Alaluf suggests Turkey’s actions threaten US, Israeli, and broader Western interests, making it a strategic competitor rather than a reliable ally. The West must, Alaluf posits, reassess Turkey’s role in its security architecture. Alauf writes:
Under the guise of leading a moderate Sunni axis and assisting the West against Iran’s radical Shia bloc, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s Turkey is advancing a far more ambitious vision: the restoration of Turkey’s regional hegemony.
Ankara’s economic and diplomatic ties with the West, including its NATO membership, are tactical tools to attain regional hegemony rather than genuine commitments to shared interests with the United States. Turkey’s ultimate objective is to reclaim the influence once enjoyed by the Ottoman Empire, which ruled vast swaths of Asia, Europe, and Africa for over six centuries. It follows that these ambitions threaten US, Western, and Israeli interests alike. […]
The New Islamist Axis
The close relationship between Turkey and Syria’s new president, Ahmed al-Shara, signals a dangerous realignment. Despite Western hopes that the collapse of the Iran-led axis in Syria would stabilize the region, the “Erdoğan-Shara axis” risks replacing one radical bloc with another. […]
Even as Turkey seeks to curb Iranian and Russian influence, its hardly an ally for either Israel or the West. At an Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in June, Erdoğan openly backed Iran, a country recognized by the US as a State Sponsor of Terrorism, declaring, “We are optimistic that victory will be Iran’s,” while accusing Israel of igniting the region. […]
Meanwhile, Erdoğan continues to whitewash Hamas, recently describing it as a “resistance movement,” not a terrorist group, in an interview with Fox News. The Turkish president significantly escalated his rhetoric since the beginning of the Gaza war, accusing Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu of committing “genocide” in Gaza, “no less than what Hitler did.” He proudly leads massive rallies around the country, even going as far as threatening to “invade” Israel last year, “just as we entered Karabakh, just as we entered Libya.” […]
The logic of “the lesser evil”—choosing Turkey over Iran—has run its course. It is of the essence to shift from accommodation to vigilance with Turkey, scrutinizing its role in keeping regional stability and participation in the global security burden sharing, and its status as a legitimate Western partner. Until it changes its course, Ankara has now established itself as a strategic competitor, rather than a partner, to the US international security interests.
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